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can i get into cambridge with bad gcses but extenuating circumstances?

I have recently just started AS and i'm studying maths, economics, government and politics and English literature. I attend a selective sixth form and went to a state school.For my gcses, I achieved one distinction* 6as 2bs and a c.However, I know I could have done a lot better, my extenuating circumstance was that during my time in secondary school, I was experiencing a lot of personal problems at home hence why I got taken into care during this summer holiday. I am working really hard now and want to achieve the very best grades at both AS and A2; do you think its worth applying to Cambridge (either for economics or literature) and are my gcses gonna heavily hinder my application?Any advice would be appreciated :smile:
I think you would have a shot at it if you get over 90+ UMS. If you don't get Cambridge you defo have a great chance of getting into another good uni :smile:
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Doones
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Original post by Anonymous
I have recently just started AS and i'm studying maths, economics, government and politics and English literature. I attend a selective sixth form and went to a state school.For my gcses, I achieved one distinction* 6as 2bs and a c.However, I know I could have done a lot better, my extenuating circumstance was that during my time in secondary school, I was experiencing a lot of personal problems at home hence why I got taken into care during this summer holiday. I am working really hard now and want to achieve the very best grades at both AS and A2; do you think its worth applying to Cambridge (either for economics or literature) and are my gcses gonna heavily hinder my application?Any advice would be appreciated :smile:


It will really depend on how you do with your A-levels. More so than your GCSEs, but yes your extenuating circumstances can be reported to Cambridge to support your application.

And just be aware that Economics at Cambridge is fairly maths heavy. You will need to be very strong in maths and most applicants will also have FM.

See how you do in Y12. If you are on target for A*AA for English, or A*A*A for Economics then an application can certainly be considered.

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The GCSEs are not what would usually be expected, but if you have well-documented extenuating circumstance, you should certainly ensure this is made known. As for economics, there's an awful lot of maths in it, and you really need to be red hot in it - it would be quite a miserable time, frankly, if your maths was weak (though Cambridge is uncannily good at sniffing that out).

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